Ingredients
(makes 6)
Rice cake
Rice flour : 80g
Glutinous rice flour : 50g
Sugar : 30g
Hot water (70˚C) : 150ml
Sweet azuki bean paste : 120g
飾りの餅米 (3色)
Decorative glutinous rice (3 colours)
Glutinous rice : 1 teaspoon x 3
Water : 50ml x 3
Food colouring : a drop x 3 different colours
Iga-mochi is essential at festivals in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture. It is sold at sweet shops and street stalls during the yearly Autumn festival at Kameyama Shrine. It dates back to the Meiji period – apparently there was a typhoon that destroyed the rice crops for that year, so coloured rice was stuck to the top of sweet potato dumplings during the festival so people could pretend they were eating rice dumplings.
When I was researching about iga-mochi, I discovered that similar sweets are found in almost 20 other cities in Japan, but they have various origins and names too, like ‘rinman’ or ‘iga-manju’. The people of Kure look forward to eating delicious iga-mochi once every year. They’re easily made in the microwave, so why not give them a try too?
The people of Kure look forward to eating delicious iga-mochi once every year. They’re easily made in the microwave, so why not give them a try too?
Preparation
- Put 1 teaspoon of washed glutinous rice each into three microwave-safe bowls, then add to each 50ml of water and 1 drop of food colouring in each bowl. Soak for at least an hour (photo 1).
- Divide sweet bean paste into 6 balls weighing 20g each.
Method
- Cover the three bowls of coloured water and glutinous rice in plastic wrap. Cook in microwave for 3-4 minutes, then leave as is for a little while to steam. If there is water left, discard it.
- In another heat-safe bowl, put rice flour, glutinous rice flour, and sugar. Add hot water all at once and whisk to combine (photo 2).
- Cover mixture with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes.
- On a piece of baking paper folded into two, knead the dough rapidly until smooth.
- While still warm, roll the dough into a cylinder then cut into 6 pieces. With moistened hands, shape each piece into a round circle and use to enclose the balls of bean paste (photos 3 & 4).
- Put some coloured rice onto each mochi, then steam for 7 minutes (photo 5).
